BUBBA COOK
laughed at Lewis when he came home from school filled with tales
of Captain Cook's discovery of Australia. He knew of earlier
contacts with the Vikings, Egyptians, Chinese, Islanders,
Portuguese and the Dutch but now the English had made claim to
our country.

The first European map of Australia is the Dauphin Map
made by the Portuguese in 1536 for the Crown Prince of France.
Queen Elizabeth established the Chartered Companies Act in 1600,
which allowed trade in territory which was not under the
influence of a 'friendly power'. This opened trade with India,
but Europe had difficulties in finding goods that could be sold
in exchange.

The charted Virginia Company of London led to the
first permanent English settlement in the New World in 1606,when
company directors, instead of staying in Europe, moved to their
company towns.

By the 1770s American independence, slavery, handing
villages commons into private ownership and industrialization
were influencing policy in Britain's envolving party system of
Whigs (mercantile interest) and Tories (agriculturists). Captain
Cook's log records the Arakwal people walking the beaches near
Ballina, Seven Mile beach (north of Lennox Head) and Byron Bay
taking little notice of his ship, indicating it was nothing new.

When Cook set off on his voyage he was told to treat
any natives with 'amity and kindness' a olicy continued with the
arrival of Arthur Phillip on the First Fleet. However, relations
quickly deteriorated as the Koories of Port Jackson realised the
white men were building permnent dwellings and intended to stay.
Terris Nullis (empty land) allowed colonisation of Australia
without a treaty. If there was no central government.
Civilisation has been the scourge of our people,; disease; crime;
misery and death have hitherto diminished our people. We have a
complex and rich culture of our own in which we grew to maturity.
Intricate clan structures permitted our people to travel and
access sites of significance for religious purposes. This
involved a complex system of centralised government. We had, and
still have sovereignty.

Army Officers who commanded convict settlements would
have their authority seriously eroded if Englnd sent a regular
aarmy to battle with our people. Battles were rarely recorded
although 20 000 to 30 000 Aboriginal people died in the initial
conflicts and many heroes are still remembered. The whites were
held off from crossing the Clarence for up to 40 years. In April
1838 Governor Gipps drafted a Government Notice that Aborigines
were original possessors of the soil with equal rights under
British law against violent crime. It was nearly not published
following the Myall Creek massacre two months later. The
resulting trial and execution of white perpetrators encouraged
Aboriginal people to become braver.

Civilisation has been a scourge for us;
disease,crime,misery and death have hitherto diminished our
people. Many whites became bent on war of extermination.
Aboriginal People were shot like dogs, poisoned, herded off
cliffs, drowned, tortured, branded, enslaved or were the subjects
of dehumanising experiments. By 1839-40 squatters had followed
the track off the ridge overland from the New England to Atherton
Tablelands to settle the open country up river. Some Europeans
notably Thomas Hewitt and AA Leycester, made peace with the
natives, offering food, tobacco, clothing and utensils for
assistance.

In 1842 Oliver Fry was appointed the first
commissioner of Crown Lands for the Clarence Squatting District,
incorporating the Clarence, Richmond and Tweed Valleys. It was
his decision not to officially record Aboriginal culture of the
region. Fry was instructed to 'gain confidence and goodwill of
the blacks' in the 'pursuit of civilised life' he was involved in
at least one known massacre at Boyd River in 1845. Richard Craig,
who was shown the overland route to the Clarence by aborigines
and was asked by the Goverment to assist in their civilisation
reported "My attempts were defeated by the harsh treatment
Mr.Fry and the police force used towards them". Stories from
'stray natives' of the great Wudgie-Wudgie'
(Red Cedar) on the river north brought
cedar cutters to the Richmond .

There was no official record of the Richmond Valley
Aborigines. However, when JAS Ainsworth put down his
reminiscences in 1922, he recalled "...They were a simple,
good-hearted and friendly people who generously give anything
they possessed to the white feller. It is regrettable to have to
record that in return they were often badly treated by the
settlers "... Naturally conversant with the ways of the bush
and the scrubs they were of incalcuable assistance to the cedar
getters. They also became fine axemen and expert and squaring the
logs, rafting and bullock driving. It was never known that the
whites had ever suffered injury at their hands, but on the
contrary their help was in constant requisition in many
ways." Epidemics of influenze, diphtheria and small pox were
allegedly accidentally introduced with government provisions of
blankets and clothing. (In North America blankets were puposely
infected before distribution to the native Indians).

Recognising the deteriorating state of Aborigines in
the 1800's, local government administrators selected
"king" and and gave them King Breast Plates recogising
as leaders. However on the Lower Richmond Aboriginal people were
not fringe dwellers, and maintained their identity without being
labeled by King Plates. By 1861 the Robinson's Land Act was
passed allowing 'selection before survey' between 40 and 320
acres.

Over demand for land on the South Coast and Hunter
Valley forced many north to our fertile valley to join the local
cedar cutters, many of who took up selections. For Aborigines who
survived the massacres and epidemics that decimated the
population, this meant tribal lands were fenced, cleared and out
of bounds. Bubba Cook was adopted after these massacres by Henry
Cook, who had a selection near Broadwater.

Bubba grew up with Henry's son Samuel and worked as a
stockman, bullock driver, cedar cutter and farmer. He was a fully
initiated man who was able to visit with other tibes people,
maintain sites and educate his children in Njangbal Arakwal
traditions. [LOIS COOK - 2001 descendant]

EXCERPTS
& STORIES [From
"Reminiscences" - by Jas Ainsworth]

GRAFTON

page 46...The
nearest town at which Richmond River official and banking
business could be transacted was GRAFTON on the Clarence River.
The first Cedar Cutting Licenses were issued by Commissioner
Oliver Fry for the North Creek and Emigrant Creek scrubs c1851 at
a cost of £6 .

CASINO IN THE FIFTIES [1850's]

Page.46 ..."Of all the
community settlements on the Richmond in the forties and fifties
Casino made the most marked progress, and rapidly developed from
a hamlet into the status of the first river township.Situated at
the head of navigation it became the convenient depot and trading
centre for the many cattle stations that occupied the immense
area of open country extending from Mt.Lindsay to Lismore. It was
there also that river officialdom was given a first abode, and
for many subsequent years CASINO was in fact the absolute capital
of the entire territory north of GRAFTON. The first river police
were located there, also the first courts of justice, the first
clergymen, the first LANDS OFFICE etc.etc"...

Registrations for births, deaths
and marriages and land selections were recorded at Casino.

BALLINA
- ABORIGINAL HISTORY

Transcibed from THE LATE MR.JAS.AINSWORTH - 1847-1922 -
REMINISCENCES - BALLINA IN THE EARLY DAYS - Written by THE LATE
MR.THOS.RUSSELL (retired Ballina school teacher).[M.KENNEDY]

[Forewood - This little booklet is placed on sale for the
benefit of the Ballina District Hospital]... To-day the book is
still for sale with the proceeds donated to the hospital. [MARGARET KENNEDY 2001]

THE ABORIGINES.- page 43
paragraph 1

..."In 1847 there were between 400 and 500 native blacks
in the tribes belonging to East and West Ballina. At that time
they had not yet become contaminated by the white approach. They
lived in rigid accordance with their own primitive customs and
were strangers alike to grog and to many of the other vices and
diseases of the white civilisation. The men were destitute of
clothing and the women wore loin cloths mostly made from the fur
of the opossum. Their principal food was fish and oysters and the
varied products of the chase. They were a simple, good-hearted
and friendly people who would generously give away anything they
possessed to the "white feller". It is regrettable to
have to record that in return they were often badly, treated by
the settlers. ..."

Page 45 paragraph 1- ..."The hunting ground of the
Ballina tribes
extended north to Broken Head and
back from the beaches to the Big Scrub.
The seasons were known to them by foliage and flowers and the
great Book of Nature undoubtedly revealed to them many of its
secrets. They could tell by natural signs of flowers and fruits
when the salmon nd the mullet were due on the beaches and in the
ribers, and also when certain game was bound o be in evidence in
particular localities."...

- Page 45 - Paragrah 2 - ..."The tribe usually camped in
division at different placed excepting during the oyster season,
when they assembled unitedly at Chickiaba
on North Creek, where the large oyster banks on the
foreshores to this day mark the old feeding grounds..."

AN EAST
BALLINA MASSACRE.

SHOT DOWN
LIKE DOGS

In 1853 or "54 when Queensland was still under the
jurisdiction of NSW. it was the custom (ocassionally) to patrol
distant territories with black-trackers in charge of white
troopers. These were trained horsemen and musket shots, but were
possessed very often with only a cramped conception of their
duty.

It had been alleged in Brisbane that the blacks to the north
of the Tweed had murdered some white men and that the murderers
had fled south towards the Richmond.

In due course one afternoon of these patrols - a small one -
rode into East Ballina and put up at Ainsworth's public house,
"The Sailors' Home". That is to say the white troopers
stayed at the hotel while the black trackers camped outside.

The object of the mission to Ballina was not disclosed to the
settlement and no inquiries were made by the patrol, but at 3
o'clock the next morning they turned out and ascended the hill in
the direction of the present reservoir. The blacks had a camping
ground on the clear slope of the hill facing the valley reaching
over towards Black Head. At the time between 200 and 300 of them
lay asleep in the camp.

The troopers and trackers stealthily surrounded the slumbering
blacks and when sufficiently close at a given signal opened fire.
Men, women, and children were slaughtered without mercy, and
their screams and cries during the onslaught were heartrending.
Between 30 and 40 of poor wretches were killed outright and many
who got away were badly wounded. Their graves may still be found
on the fatal ridges".

ON THE 12TH AUGUST, 2001
A MONUMENT WAS PLACED NEAR THE AREA WHERE THE MASSACRE OCCURRED
IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN.[M.KENNEDY]

"The coastal areas of New South Wales and southern
Queensland were associated with the legend of the THREE
BROTHERS the ancestors of the Aboriginal people who came from
the sea and landed on the east coast. The details of the legend
vary from one part of the coast to another, each Aboriginal
language area claiming that the brothers landed in their
territory.

In our area the legend states that the three brothers made
their first landing at Evans Heads,and
after two subsequent landings further north (one at Lennox boat channel area),
two of the brothers occupied the coast, while the third moved
inland and occupied the Lismore
district.

Evans Head was
known as Gummingarr, a name derived from gummi, meaning father's
mother. This recalls an incident in the legend where the
grandmother of the three brothers went into the bush to gather
fern roots; she could not be found when the three brothers
prepared to paddle northward, and was therefore was left behind.
Arriving back at the beach the grandmother grew very angry at
being left behind and used her magic to summon up a storm making
the first waves on what up till that point had been a waveless
ocean. This forced the brother ashore at Ballina and they went overland back to
retrieve the grandmother.

The next landing was at Lennox
Head in the boat channel area
(bream hole/moat) of the beach. One of the brothers,
named Yarbirri (his beard was a dark red colour), thrust his
hunting spear into the sand, and fresh water gushed out. Before
the swampy area in the southern corner was filled and drained a
ti-tree coloured stain was often seen that resembled a red beard.

After Lennox the brothers continued north to their final
landing at Brunswick Heads, where they are said to have made the
first wandaral or bora ring.Be that as it may, there is a well
preserved bora ring in Lennox. It is situated ninety metres west
of Gibbon Street and is also adjacent to the Megan Crescent
cricket field. It is fenced and maintained by the National Parks
and Wildlife Service of NSW and is open to visitors. The Bora
Ring was used mainly for male initiation ceremonies.

After the first Wandaral ceremony at Brunswick, The eldest
brother, Yarbirri, made the laws. The brothers decided to
separate and to populate the earth, Yarbirri went north, Mamoon
to the west and Birrung to the south. The name Birin (Birrung)
was widely used to mean "southerners"; the people north
of the Brisbane River regarded all of the Bunjalung people as
Birin: to the people here Birin referred to the people of the
Clarence."...>From Aboriginal Pathways in Southeast
Queensland and the Richmond River - J.G. Steel.

THE HISTORY OF
LENNOX HEAD

"Lennox
Free Times" Newspaper PART 1.

Transcribed by Margaret Kennedy, Ballina.

GEOLOGICAL
HISTORY

Lennox Point was formed about 20 million years ago in the
Cenozoic Era as part of one of the lava flows from the Tweed
Shield Volcano, centred on what is now Mt.Warning. The basaltic
lava spread south and east from the volcano in a succession of
flows which covered to varying depths an older landform uplifted
from the ocean bed in the Mesozoic Era.

Evidence of this can be seen in the sandstone at the base of THE POINT, known to surfers and fisherman
as REDROCK.

Millions of years of erosion wore the basalt into the red soil
seen in this and the ALSTONVILLE
area.

The flat area extending back to the KNOCKROW
hills thence once covered by the sea. During this
period Fig Tree Hill was an island. From the hill looking north
you can see evidence of old shorelines in the curving lines in
the vegetation of the undisturbed heath country.

Disclaimer

Whilst every care has been
taken in the preparation of this material, due to the fact
that it is based on various records, and in some cases vary,
it may or may not be, 100% correct.Consequently, no
responsibility can be taken for any errors or ommissions that
may have inadvertently crept in. [M.KENNEDY]